Deputy Dean Bardes recovered from the injuries he sustained during the Nov. 14 attack, but the suspect, 53-year-old Edward Strother, was shot three times and pronounced dead at the scene.

Bardes was working a traffic accident when Strother drove by at a high rate of speed. Bardes attempted to stop him, and Strother initially stopped in the middle of the road, then pointed a gun at Bardes and sped away.

Strother eventually stopped, but when he exited his vehicle, he came at Bardes and pulled him from his patrol car and slammed him to the ground. Strother then straddled Bardes and beat him, violently slamming his head into the asphalt repeatedly, all of which was witnessed by the armed citizen, Ashad Russell.

Russell approached the altercation and repeatedly told Strother to stop beating Bardes, but he refused to comply and continued to reach for the deputy’s gun. As Bardes struggled to keep control of his weapon, he yelled at Russell to shoot Strother.

After numerous warnings had continued to go ignored, Russell opened fire, striking Strother multiple times. Another witness said before the final, fatal shot Strother told Russell, “You better kill me.” The third shot, which struck Strother in the neck, was said to be the fatal blow.

An obviously disheartened Russell then turned, dropped his gun to the ground, and walked away. Russell, who was hailed a hero, later revealed he was in shock after the shooting.